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South Asia Investor Review is focused on reporting, analyzing and discussing the economy and the financial markets of countries in South Asia, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. For investors looking to invest in emerging markets beyond BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), this blog is designed to help international investors looking to learn about investing in South Asia with focus on Pakistan. Riaz has another blog called Haq's Musings at http://www.riazhaq.com

Gated Communities Proliferating in Pakistan

Real estate developers have so far built over 250 gated communities across Pakistan in response to rising demand from upwardly mobile Pakistanis.

Eden Housing Gated Community in Lahore, Pakistan

These communities cater to insatiable demand for world-class and well-appointed housing with modern infrastructure including well-built wide roads and reliable supply of water and electricity. Additionally, they offer various state-of-the-art amenities such as schools, hospitals, mosques, restaurants, theaters, shopping malls and parks located within secure communities, according to a report by Adrian Bishop, editor of Opp.Today.

Gated communities are being offered at multiple price points and payment plans that suit not just the rich but the middle class buyers as well. They offer condos (flats), townhouses and single-family homes on lot sizes ranging from 125 square yards to 2000 square yards. These communities are fueling a construction boom in Pakistan.

In addition to major Pakistani cities of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, new gated communities are being developed in second and third tier cities as well. Recently, Bahria Town announced its newest development of a gated community in Nawabshah, a city of just over a million residents in southern Sindh province.

Here's an excerpt of a 2013 AFP report on Bahria Town gated community in Islamabad:

Cars glide softly over the smooth tarmac carpeting the gentle hills of Pakistan’s largest gated community, past immaculate green verges dotted with statues of cattle — which, unlike their real counterparts elsewhere in the country, pose no threat to traffic. There’s a horse riding centre, a golf course, a posh cinema, an immaculately air-conditioned café and a mini zoo with “the only black panther in Pakistan”, whose growling excites young couples taking a walk. Elsewhere 20 metre models of the Eiffel Tower and Nelson’s Column — complete with lions — watch over this vision of suburbia which seems a world away from the rest of Pakistan’s seething, traffic-choked and crumbling cities.

In a development that may raise eyebrows in a highly competitive cement industry, a Chinese investor has expressed interest in due diligence of Dewan Cement Limited in order to acquire a stake in the company.

“We have received a request through email from a potential Chinese strategic investor seeking permission for due diligence of Dewan Cement, which may eventually lead to acquisition of shares in our company,” said a company notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday.

“We intend to permit due diligence; if any material development takes place, we will communicate the same to the (stock) exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.”

The development is expected to create an interesting situation in the cement sector where a number of companies are already vying to increase their market share.

“If this due diligence results in some deal, the new investor will most likely install a new plant which may take up to three years to start operations. So this is not an immediate threat to the cement cartel,” Sherman Securities analyst Sadiq Samin told The Express Tribune.

“The due diligence process will itself take two to three months and then we will have to look how it affects the market.”

This would not cause any jitters because cement demand was growing continuously, he said when asked whether the entry of a foreign player would spark fears.

Dewan Cement has a production capacity of around 2.88 million tons per annum, constituting 6.1% of the total installed capacity of 45.6 million tons of the cement industry. It has two manufacturing units including Pakland Cement and Saadi Cement.

Analysts suggest that the situation would have been different if the company had installed a new plant and the Chinese player could immediately start manufacturing cement after taking it over.

Pakland Cement was established in 1981 at Deh Dhando in Malir district, Karachi. The plant was fully operational by 1985 and producing Ordinary Portland Cement.

Anticipating a further growth in demand, cement companies are aggressively engaged in expansion of their plants.

Cherat Cement, Attock Cement, DG Khan Cement and Lucky Cement have already announced expansion plans and these plants will come online over the next three years. The combined investment by these players is expected to be in the range of $700 million to $1 billion.

The construction sector, a major consumer of cement, posted an excellent 13% growth in fiscal year 2015-16 compared to average growth of 4% in the past four years due to economic recovery and the booming real estate sector, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2016.

The government expects construction-related activities to pick up further momentum on the back of increasing public sector development spending coupled with massive infrastructure and power projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Apart from the provincial capitals, major cities across Pakistan have become the landing station for noted real estate developers who find the primary markets of the country less fertile for gaining momentum and generating sizable interest among investors and buyers. Lately, we have seen cities like Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Sialkot and Gujranwala welcome new residential projects by famous real estate developers.

Multan, being the central and major metropolis of South Punjab, is experiencing an enhanced real estate activity at the moment and additions of posh housing projects are adding value to the property market of the city further. Considering time right for the launch of a luxurious housing project in the city, Royal Developers & Builder (Pvt), a subsidiary of Habib Rafiq Pvt Ltd Group, brings its 60 years of experience to the City of Saints in the guise of Royal Orchard Multan.

Royal Orchard is located on Main Multan Public School Road near Northern Bypass and Mittital Road, Shakh-e-Madina Road and Women University, with the Multan International Airport only a 9-minute drive from the project site. It is one of the largest residential schemes in the city and offers the people of Multan a secured and amenities-laden lifestyle backed by Habib Rafiq (Pvt) LTD’s signature construction standards.

The projects is unique in various ways as it will have the biggest Jamia Mosque of Multan built on an area of 25 kanals. Royal Orchard will also have the biggest roundabout of the city as well as the biggest Commercial Broadway of Multan which would be 590 feet wide. The developer is offering a lifetime of maintenance services to the residents of Royal Orchard. Other attractions of the project include:

• Underground electrification

• Community Transport services

• Telephone exchange and DSL

• Water filtration plants

• Post office

• International standard mini golf club

• A community club

• Parks, play grounds and jogging tracks

• Banks and shopping plazas

• School, colleges and a university

• A Cineplex

• Food courts, restaurants and hotels

• Gated community, walled premises

• Four manned entrances from three sides of the city

• Carpeted roads

• Security check posts, physical surveillance, CCTV

You can choose to buy residential plots in Royal Orchard in various sizes to suit your budget. Payments can be made through a convenient 3-year plan. For more details, I recommend you visit Zameen.com’s New Projects Section for Royal Orchard Multan.

After tremendous success of Gujranwala and Sargodha projects, Samhan Group of Companies has formally launched its independent real estate brand by the name of Samhan Housing. The launch event was organized at Royal Palm Lahore and was attended by real estate magnates from across Pakistan as well as members of the Samhan Group.

The Group entered the real estate realm in 2014 with its first project being at Gujranwala, followed by Sargodha in 2015. The Group also has a low-budget housing project ‘Samhan Homes’ within the said schemes to its credit, and has put the best of its efforts into speedy development of all real estate projects while ensuring on-time possession for every home owner. Now, with two immensely successful residential projects in its portfolio, Samhan Group has formally launched its independent real estate brand ‘Samhan Housing’ and has expressed intent to launch residential projects in Attock, Islamabad and Lahore in the near future.

“It’s a momentous occasion for Samhan Group as we materialize our vision of diversity in business with the launch of our independent real estate brand Samhan Housing,” said Saleem Hanif, Chairman Samhan Group, while sharing his thoughts on the occasion. “After executing two hugely successful residential projects, we decided to introduce our independent brand into the real estate sector. In our upcoming residential projects, we will try to tap into all budget segments of the population, providing them with the high-quality residential solutions that they can afford,” he added.

“We are proud to have added Samhan Housing to our portfolio of companies. Pursuing excellence in all our business endeavors, we have already proved our mettle in the vastly competitive real estate sector and with our upcoming projects, we are geared to expand our outreach and earn the same level of public trust that we did in our previous property ventures,” said Mr. Sheraz Khan, Head of Sales & Marketing, Samhan Housing. “We hope to give Pakistan some of the most amazing residential projects in the near future and make our mark as Pakistan’s premium and most trusted real state player,” he added.

Established since 2009, Samhan Group of companies has ventures in defence logistics, real estate, fashion, IT, advertising/ media production and telecom sectors. With the launch of Samhan Housing as its real estate brand, the group aims to emerge as a market leader with projects that cater to all segments of the society.

Agha Steel Industries Ltd. is planning Pakistan’s biggest-ever private sector initial share sale this year to help boost output as China funds more than $55 billion in infrastructure projects across the nation and a buoyant stock market spurs investor demand.

The Karachi-based company plans to raise as much as 10 billion rupees ($95 million) selling a 25 percent stake, Executive Director Hussain Agha said in an interview. The sale will be the largest since the 12-billion rupees government stake sale of Habib Bank Ltd. in 2007, the country’s largest IPO yet.

Steel and cement makers in Pakistan are expanding to meet demand as the “One Belt, One Road” trade route financed by China spurs construction. The nation’s economy has grown at about 5 percent annually since 2013, encouraging Agha’s peers including International Steels Ltd. and Aisha Steel Mills Ltd. to lift production.

“You need roads, sky rises and housing,” said Agha. “Pakistan’s steel industry is in an infancy stage and growing at a massive pace -- the whole environment will change.”

The company will use the funds for $50 million expansion that will triple output to 500,000 metric tons within two years. Production will then double to a million tons by 2023, he said. Habib Bank has been appointed financial adviser while Arif Habib Ltd. and BMA Capital Ltd. were picked as book runners for transaction.

Pakistan’s steel output grew 23 percent to 3.6 million tons in 2016, the biggest gain among 40 nations, according to the World Steel Association. Agha Steel expects construction-grade steel, such as rebars and wire rods, to grow as much as 12 percent annually for the next three years.

The construction sector expanded 13 percent in year ended June 2016, more than twice the pace in the previous 12 months, according to State Bank of Pakistan’s annual report. Rapid urbanization and rising income levels has left the nation with an annual shortfall of 500,000 homes, according to real-estate developer Arif Habib.

“Real-estate is the main engine for this growth, it has really picked up,” said Ayub Khuhro, chief investment officer of Karachi-based Faysal Asset Management Ltd., which has about 8 billion rupees in stocks and bonds. “The government is also willing to protect companies with anti-dumping measures.”

Real estate markets in Pakistan largely remained quiet in the first half of calendar year 2017 following chaos in the second half of previous year in the wake of revision in property tax rates and new property valuations.

IslamabadAmong major cities of the country, market activity was largely dominated by genuine buyers in Islamabad in the first half of 2017 with little price fluctuations.

Pindi police officer suspended for aiding alleged land grabber

The areas that performed well were Bahria Town and Sector B-17. In Bahria Town, prices for one-kanal (605-square-yard) plots rose 5.84% and those for 10-marla (302-square-yard) plots increased 4.52%.

In Sector B-17, prices for one-kanal plots increased 14.26% while rates for 10-marla plots swelled 18.05%. Growth in the sector came primarily as a result of construction of a new airport.

Lahore

There was little activity in the city and overall the real estate market remained stable in the first half. Following a positive trend at the start of the year, it was expected that activity in Bahria Town would resume. However, this did not happen because of issues in the Lahore Ring Road and in Sector-F.

High population density resulted in stability in property prices in the Wapda Town. However, LDA Avenue-1 experienced a slight drop of 2.79% in prices for one-kanal plots and 5.98% for 10-marla plots. The price dip was primarily because of litigation issues, lack of security and low level of development.

However, some areas in the city performed relatively better. DHA Lahore’s Phases I-VI recorded a growth of 3.79% in prices for one-kanal plots and 1.72% for 10-marla plots.

As these areas had a high population density, this hindered the prospects for engaging more buyers and investors. Much of the activity took place in Phases V and VI.

In Phases VII-IX, prices increased moderately by 3.29% for one-kanal and 4.2% for 10-marla plots.

A long-standing political uncertainty over the Panama Papers case has had its impact on real estate prices in some areas.

The worst-hit was Bahria Orchard where prices dropped 3.2% for one-kanal and 7.78% for 10-marla plots as many investors were attracted towards Bahria Town Karachi.

In DHA Gujranwala, one-kanal plots registered a price increase of 21.88% whereas prices for 10-marla plots rose 15.44%. Prices are expected to rise again as various other DHA projects slow down.

In Master City, plot prices edged up 1.44% for one kanal and 4.93% for 10 marla. Citi Housing saw price increase of 4.08% for one-kanal plots and 3.35% for 10-marla plots. Many investors in this project were attracted away by Palm City, resulting in less activity in Citi Housing.

Karachi

Bahria Town Karachi was one of the most attractive investment avenues. It was able to attract investors away from Gwadar because of its development at a rapid pace.

NAB arrests man for illegal sale of government land

Prices for 500-square-yard plots jumped 35.94% while rates for 250-square-yard land pieces swelled 43.96%. For genuine buyers, Gulshan-e-Iqbal remained the top choice.

Buyer activity in DHA Karachi and DHA City Karachi was rather sluggish. DHA City had fared well in the first quarter, but investors were then attracted towards the fast-developing Gwadar city.

“Localities that had speedy development performed better than others in H1. Moreover, localities that had infrastructure developments taking place nearby also saw significant jumps. This tells us that investors are looking at areas that will prove to be the right fit for homeowners in the future,” commented Zeeshan Ali Khan, CEO of Zameen.com – a real estate portal.

Perween Rahman was returning home one evening in March 2013 from her job as head of the Orangi Pilot Project, which for years has pushed land title claims for Karachi’s poor, when she was shot three times by a gunman on a motorcycle.

Rahman died as she was rushed to hospital by her friend and colleague Anwar Rashid. “He was a sharp shooter,” said Rashid, now 71 years old and white-haired, but still a director of the OPP, pointing to his throat and chest to indicate where Rahman was hit. “This is because of the land -- the police, the mafia, all involved.”

---------“Public land has commonly been illegally regularized and sold,” Brussels-based conflict watchdog International Crisis Group said in a February report. “It has become the city’s most prized and contested commodity, with federal, provincial and local land-owning agencies, military cantonments, corporate entities and formal and informal developers competing to extract as much value as possible. Given the fiscal stakes, disputes are settled by bribery and political, bureaucratic and police patronage, and even deadly force.”

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Some 13 different government agencies are tasked with regulating laws and coordinating development, but slums have sprung up across the city with little regard for any of these.

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Karachi’s real estate in recent years has offered better returns than Dubai and London, according to tycoon Arif Habib, who is building a $2 billion gated estate in the Naya Nazimbad district, neighboring an area that used to be controlled by Taliban militants. One of his units said on Monday that it has filed an application with the government to buy an extra 900 acres to expand the project.

Habib also pioneered and listed Pakistan’s only real estate investment trust in 2015, offering a stake in one of Karachi’s most prominent malls and office towers. Developers including Habib and rival builders such as real estate baron Malik Riaz Hussain and the military’s property arms, are tapping into the price boom.

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Rahman’s family and associates suspect her work mapping Karachi’s poor districts and helping residents gain land titles put her in conflict with powerful criminal networks. The OPP mapped more than 1,000 settlements between 2006 and 2013, though that stopped after Rahman’s death and subsequent threats and attacks on the group’s staff.

---------

One example of heightened scrutiny is property mogul Hussain’s vast city-sized Bahria Town development about an hour’s drive from Karachi. Construction began in 2014 and, when completed, the enclave will boast a 36-hole golf course, theme parks, five-lane highways, Dubai-style fountains, and what it says will be the world’s third-largest mosque.

A 125 square yard house in Bahria Town that initially sold for 1.73 million rupees ($16,000) is now between 2.4 million rupees to 3.5 million rupees, said M. Akmal Khan Khattak, a marketing manager at real-estate agent Athar Associates. He’s been recommending the purchase to his clients.

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“They have provided security, they have provided electricity,” Tariq said, referring to Bahria Town. “People see their success and they will follow.”

Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, is now looking to computerize land records which may help curb corruption, Mohammad Zubair, governor of the province and a member of the federal ruling party, said in an interview in March. This was earlier done in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous region that’s also governed by the same party.

“Of course the challenge will always remain,” Zubair said when asked about land grabbing. “Because the political players and people in important positions are involved.”

Factors such as federal budget, law amendments and introduction of real estate investment trust have influenced sector's advancementakistan's real estate industry continues to evolve as companies try to resolve real estate complexities in order to increase its growth, experts have revealed.

Factors such as the federal budget, law amendments and the introduction of the real estate investment trust have influenced the advancement of the industry. According to reports, investors have pulled out money from several banks in Pakistan after the introduction of 0.3 to 0.6 per cent withholding tax on filers and non-filers on tax returns.

These components, along with the rise of safe property investment bets in various parts of the country and abroad, encourage Pakistanis and non-resident Pakistanis (NRPs) to invest in valuable long-term investments compared to short-term purchases.

Showcasing the change in the industry, this year's International Real Estate and Investment Show brings the third Pakistan Property Exhibition in Abu Dhabi. The specialised event, held with the support of the Pakistan Embassy, Pakistan Business Council and Pakistan Association Dubai, showcases the country's leading developers and realty agents under one roof to showcase the best options for investment, provide spot sales and learn about the leading insights into the market. Visitors can expect to see properties from cities including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Gwadar, Gujranwala and many more.

"Studies have continuously shown new global trends that the real estate market in Pakistan is tapping into. Apart from new demographic movements, Pakistan has also witnessed a heavy intercity migration over the last five years due to security and economic benefits that specific cities offer," said Antoine Georges, managing director of Dome Exhibitions. "The International Real Estate Exhibition Show enables Pakistanis to secure homes and investment properties in their country by bringing the opportunities to them through the Pakistan Property Exhibition. The pavilion aims to attract more than 10,000 Pakistani investors from the UAE."

To be held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from November 2-4, the exhibition enables Pakistan's realty giants such as DHA, Model Housing Lahore, New Lahore City and Bahria Town to showcase the latest properties available for aspiring buyers.

Real estate and investment companies will also have the chance to market their products to Pakistani investors through well-tailored marketing strategies made available by marketers such as Athar Marketing, Star Marketing, Midas Group and Q&A Marketing and more.

Pakistan in your mind may be frozen in time, but real Pakistan has changed. Everything has changed.

You will find both familiarity and alienness there. It would appear to you like a dream. Or perhaps like being on Star Trek Holodeck, where things are familiar but there are new actors, and you are still a stranger.

First thing that would hit you would be the increase in population. Too many people compared to the time you left Pakistan. Some areas that were farms and free spaces when you were there would now be occupied by new housing developments.

The physical appearances would have changed. There would not be any complete transformation to prosperity, but new buildings replacing old ones, new motorways, would change the physical reality.

You would find distances have shrunk.The places that seemed far away because you walked to them or went on bicycle, would appear to be so near because now you would travel by car.

You would meet someone, with white beard, bald head, missing teeth, and perhaps walking with a cane, who be introduced to you as your classmate. You would be blown away by the ravages of time, and be grateful for your health.

A middle aged woman with young children would come to visit you. And she will turn out to be the daughter of a cousin or a friend, who was just an infant at the time you left Pakistan.

And finally, as you relive the memories of your childhood, you may find a reason to visit again and again.

Dubai-based Abraaj Group has announced it has invested in Cinepax Limited, Pakistan’s leading cinema operator.

With Abraaj’s investment, the value of which has not been disclosed, Cinepax plans to develop 80 new screens across multiple locations over the next four years and also grow other entertainment related ventures, Abraaj said in a statement.

Arif Baigmohamed and Pir Saad Ahsanuddin established Cinepax in 2006 and launched their first multiplex in 2007. Since then, the company has established itself in the market and today has 29 screens in 12 locations.

Pakistan’s entertainment industry has significant growth potential, with a low ratio of cinema screens (0.5 per million population).

Abraaj said it will support the company in establishing international standard multiplex cinemas in new and upcoming areas.

Omar Lodhi, partner for Asia at The Abraaj Group, said: “Our investment into Cinepax demonstrates our faith in the opportunity that Pakistan’s young growing population and expanding middle class represents.

"As one of the most active investors in Pakistan, with a strong on-the-ground presence, we see a long-term market opportunity in the cinema operator and video streaming business.”

Arif Baigmohamed, chairman of Cinepax, added: “We are delighted to welcome Abraaj as an investor into our business and look forward to partnering together to reach more people across the country, providing much needed entertainment options.”

The Abraaj Group has been present in Pakistan since 2004. This transaction marks Abraaj’s ninth investment into Pakistan across a number of sectors including healthcare, power distribution, renewable energy and industrials.

Pakistani nationals are one of the largest investors in Dubai's real estate sectorReal estate firm Danube Group aims to strengthen its presence in Pakistan by attracting more investments into its property portfolio, and is also expanding its home furnishing brand into the South Asian country.

"Pakistan is strategically a very important market. We are searching for a right franchise partner there. Some investors have shown interest, [so] we are evaluating the right partner. Post completion of the market research and study, we are looking to open stores across major cities of Pakistan. Though the location is still not decided, we will plan the location based on our research analysis," said Adel Sajan, director of Danube Group.

He pointed out that Danube Home stores usually span an area between 5,000 sqft to 10,000 sqft for boutique concepts and 25,000 sqft to 45,000 sqft for the big box concept, with an investment ranging between $400,000 (Dh1.468 million) to $2.5 million (Dh9.175 million), depending on the size of the store, number of stores and operating cost in the country. In order to tap Pakistani investors, the Dubai-based group recently appointed cricket captain Sarfaraz Ahmed as its ambassador in Dubai.

Atif Rahman, director and partner at Danube Properties, told Khaleej Times in an interview that the group's customer base from Pakistan is expanding fast, therefore, it's important with over 200 million population to focus on the market and reach out to customers there.

"Right now, between seven to eight per cent of investors - and revenues - are from Pakistan. In terms of sale value, we are talking about Dh200 million-plus investments by Pakistani nationals in to Danube's projects. We are also seeing month-on-month increase in investments that motivated us to be associated with a brand ambassador from that market and also start venturing into that market locally. Therefore, you will see a lot of road shows and activities in Karachi and Lahore at the end of October and early November," Rahman revealed during the interview.

Meanwhile, Pakistani nationals are one of the largest investors in Dubai's real estate sector. A recent statement by Dubai Land Department said that Pakistani nationals made 5,398 real estate transactions worth nearly Dh7 billion. Pakistan's Federal Board of Revenue recently told parliament that its nationals had parked $8 billion (Dh29.36 billion) in to the UAE's - mainly in Dubai - real estate sector.

Rahman said: "Without any doubt, our business from Pakistan is going to grow. There is a consistent demand for construction material as well as properties. We have a very traditional, conventional and organic way of expanding business. We go out on a small scale and grow it strength-by-strength. Right now, we have added two cities of Karachi and Lahore; if the response continues to be good and numbers are increasing, we will continue to invest. There is no upper limit - it's purely organic and based on the confidence in the market," he noted.

Development firm announce plans for first master community development for private market

"We believe Gwadar is following in the footsteps of Shenzen which represented a historic population rise, from a population of 30,000 in 1980 to 11 million people in 2017. Gwadar is poised to see massive population growth due to incoming industries, and we expect this to be one of the most strategic cities in South Asia."

Leading private investment house China Pak Investment Corporation today announced its acquisition of the 3.6 million square foot International Port City project in the city of Gwadar. The investment company is currently revising the scheme's plans in line with international developments standards and will be developing the first of its kind $150 million gated master community tailor-made for the expected 500,000 incoming Chinese professionals expected in Gwadar by 2022.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/564249/China_Pak_Hills_Phase_1.jpg )The project which is expected to be renamed China Pak Hills hails an exciting new phase in the development of the port of Gwadar, the 'Gateway City' to the $62 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the largest unilateral foreign direct investment from one nation into another. The CPEC is set to catapult Pakistan's stature as a key global trade and economic hub and includes a bouquet of projects currently under construction that will not only improve Pakistan's infrastructure, but will deepen the economic and political ties between China and Pakistan.

Hao-Yeh Chang, Corporate Communications Director for China Pak Investments Corporation commented, "We believe Gwadar is following in the footsteps of Shenzen which represented a historic population rise, from a population of 30,000 in 1980 to 11 million people in 2017. Gwadar is poised to see massive population growth due to incoming industries, and we expect this to be one of the most strategic cities in South Asia."

The final master plan for China Pak Hills is currently being refined in Hong Kong, and will feature a range of state-of-the-art amenities including an open-air shopping boulevard; indoor shopping mall; restaurants and eateries; an international school & nursery; six community parks; indoor and outdoor sports facilities including tennis courts and a resident's gymnasium; a water desalination plant and recycling centre. China Pak Hills will also be home to the Gwadar Financial District, catering to the growing financial sector and adding much needed A Grade office space to Gwadar's growing market.

One Investments Ltd, a UK-based property investment company, headed by Zeeshan Shah, have been appointed as Global Master - Agent for the Development. "China Pak Hills is a unique and exciting opportunity. The level of investment and commitment made by the Chinese government in the CPEC guarantees that Gwadar is going to be one of the most important trading and access points in the World. Its geographic position, combined with the infrastructure being created through the CPEC means that it can only grow exponentially."

The China Pak Hills master-community is being developed by China Pak Investments and is soon expected to announce options for private sale of limited plots to end purchasers.

here’s an intersection in Karachi where the road suddenly becomes smooth. I sit up and take notice whenever I’m driving on it because there’s an abrupt lack of potholes, and after jostling around the back of a rickshaw or taxi for most of my day, the unbroken surface is almost alarming. Unlike the rest of the city, the street lamps at this intersection glow bright at night, the asphalt always looks fresh, and there’s no trash on the ground. The walls of the underpass are inscribed with a circular logo that spells out “Bahria Town” in Urdu script. “This road brought to you by Bahria Town,” reads a sign as you leave it.

Bahria Town claims to be Asia’s largest private real estate company. It builds manicured planned communities outside of Pakistan’s three major cities, Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi, as well as some key properties in urban areas. Fundamentally, Bahria Town sells private solutions to the ills of a state-run Pakistani urban habitat, one in which rolling blackouts and flooded streets are common occurrences. The company’s images of life in one of its many planned communities — gated towns that appear to be a perfect blend of bland American suburbs a la Phoenix or Houston and the dumb opulence of Dubai — present an idyllic escape from the smog-filled urban decay of Karachi. “Amidst Soft Grass and Pure Class,” reads the company’s website, “Bahria Town is the force turning the vision of modern Pakistan into a reality.”

It’s easy to believe Bahria Town really is the force of modernity in a country rife with structural problems. Karachiites remark what a pleasure it is to drive through an intersection devoid of the usual urban mess. There’s no stopping or stalling because of broken or ignored traffic lights, so there’s none of the usual window tapping from beggars and hawkers. The intersection doesn’t even require the presence of uniformed traffic cop, the stalwart token of post-colonial megacities. For the few minutes it takes to drive the half-mile road, it’s easy to forget that you’re in Pakistan at all. And when the Pakistan around you is one of disrepair and conspicuous poverty, it’s not necessarily a bad feeling.

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That feeling gave way to incredulity when it dawned on me just how big Bahria Town Karachi is. I felt as if I was in the ghost-pepper episode of The Simpsons: I’d look to my left and see a seemingly endless row of identical houses emerging from the desert, then to my right see a giant flower drooping over a tea cup. Every major roundabout in Bahria Town was adorned with either golden galloping horses or an unexplained surrealist interpretation of seemingly random objects: a golf ball, lions, flowers, and at times, plaques of Malik Riaz’s face. The roads, often six lanes wide and perfectly painted, stretched deep into the desert, splitting off into subdivisions of half-built homes that could have been plucked from any suburb in the U.S. Eerily, the entire city was virtually empty save for construction workers squinting into the sun.

I pulled into one of the subdivisions and saw a group of workers, the biggest I’d seen in one place since arriving in the community. “We’re caulkers,” they said. Their only job was to caulk between the tiles in every house; they did the same job down the line of houses. “We have about four more today,” one of them told me. I looked down the row and counted at least 20 houses on the street, half of them still in need of a paint job. I walked into one of the half-built homes and immediately felt the familiarity of the suburban layout I grew up with in the middle of Indiana. One bathroom here, a kitchen there, the door to the backyard here. Though we were only an hour outside of Karachi, where the average family can barely afford a single-room house, I was standing in the middle of some twisted version of the American suburb.

Naquib Sawiris is developing a $2b estate in IslamabadPakistan faces a housing shortage as its population expands

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris’s Ora Developers will next month start building a luxurious $2 billion housing estate on the outskirts of Islamabad and is eyeing further projects as it taps demand from overseas Pakistanis.

The ‘Eighteen Islamabad’ development will feature more than 1,000 homes, a golf course and a mall on 2.25 million square meters of land. It will take six years to complete, said Tarek Hamdy, chief executive officer of the development. Sawiris holds 60 percent in a joint venture with local firms Kohistan Builders and Developers and Saif Group, owned by Pakistan’s prominent Saifullah family.

Pakistan’s real estate sector has seen a boom in recent years as militant violence has receded. Economic growth in the nation of more than 200 million people has risen to around 5 percent as China finances more than $50 billion on infrastructure projects across the country. House prices have more than doubled since 2011, according to property website Zameen.com, and housing projects are mushrooming in cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar,

“The market isn’t saturated,” Hamdy said in an interview at his office next to Islamabad’s Margalla hills, adding that Sawiris’s firm is eyeing potential other projects that may be announced by the end of this year.

Prices for a three bedroom home on the estate start at 30.5 million rupees ($275,395) and about $400 million will be invested in the development in the first two years, Hamdy said.

‘Highest Quality’“You can develop a project at very reasonable margins” between 10 to 40 percent, he said. “The highest quality still makes money.”

Sawiris is not new to Pakistan. He previously set up one of Pakistan’s first mobile phone companies, Mobilink, now the nation’s largest cellular firm by subscriber numbers.

Apart from private businessmen such as Malik Riaz Hussain who is building Pakistan’s largest development outside Karachi, the military’s housing business has sped up efforts to grab market share. Hamdy sees overseas Pakistanis particularly in the U.S., U.K. and Middle East as major buyers and is considering launching another housing project by the end of 2018.

A shortage of housing units will boost construction activity in Pakistan as the urban population grows by nearly 30 million by 2027, BMI Research said in a December report. Construction has been one of the largest recipients of foreign direct investment and in the first seven months of this fiscal year $380 million was invested in the sector, according to central bank data.

Property developers are flocking to Pakistan to take advantage of a housing shortage.Steady economic growth and a booming population have underpinned a recent surge in house prices.Pakistan property is booming.

Australia’s residential construction boom may have reached its peak, but it looks as if Pakistan is just getting started on something similar.

As a case in point, a $US2 billion housing construction project gets underway next month on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan’s ninth-largest city.

According to a report by Bloomberg, the project will be run by the development company of Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, as developers look to cash in on a Pakistani housing boom.

The end-product will see the construction of more than 1,000 new houses, with prices starting at 30.5 million rupees (around $US275,000) for a three-bedroom home.

Pakistan’s economy has been on the rise in recent years, seeing annual GDP growth climb to 5% with a corresponding boom in real estate prices.

The growth trends have been driven by a material reduction in militant violence, and the flow-on effects from $US50 billion worth of Chinese investment in large infrastructure projects.

China has been actively strengthening ties with Pakistan, which it views as a key regional ally for its One Belt, One Road initiative.

Earlier this year, China stepped in to defend Pakistan after the US said it would cut aid to the country. Pakistan also conducts trade deals with China denominated in Chinese yuan.

Bloomberg cited the property website zameen.com, which said house prices in Pakistan have more than doubled since 2011 in the country of 200 million people.

Developers are flocking to the region attracted by the high margins still on offer for major real estate projects, with most developments attracting a return of between 10-40%.

And demand for housing is still strong, with steady stream of new projects in larger cities such as Karachi and Lahore.

The country’s housing shortage is most likely part of a longer-term trend, with Pakistan’s urban population expected to grow by around 30 million people by 2027.

State-owned Chinese construction company China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has announced that it has entered into agreement for the construction of Gwadar's first luxury gated Golf Community with a Pakistani company.

Empire Properties, the Pakistan registered company, and the CCECC have signed a memorandum of understanding as the prospective contractor for the construction of China Pak Golf Estates, Gwadar's first luxury Golf Community.

The $265 million development is a milestone in the development of Gwadar and will deliver the emerging port city’s most premier residential and lifestyle destination, said a joint press release issued here.

Commenting on the partnership Mr Wang Lei, Managing Director CCECC (Pakistan) said: "It is a great honour to be working alongside a forward thinking international conglomerate like CPIC. China Pak Golf Estates is a ground breaking development for not only Gwadar but Pakistan and we are honoured to be a part of this monumental project and contributing to the growth story of Emerging Pakistan. CCECC are a leading global contractor with 39 years of experience in over 40 countries delivering high quality projects ranging from civil engineering design and consultancy to real estate development. We aim to deliver a timeless community in China Pak Golf Estates that will set a new standard to master community development in Pakistan."

Afzal Shah, CEO or Empire Properties said: "China Pak Golf Estates will truly set a new standard to real estate community development in Pakistan and there isn't a better company we could be working with to deliver this grand vision than CCECC. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Mr Wang Lei and his team as we embark on this virtuous journey together. Our vision extends beyond developing Pakistan's finest communities, we will change the fabric of Pakistan's real estate industry by setting a new benchmark for integrity and transparency in a market that at times can be described as less than open. Our goal is to elevate the market to the same standards as established international markets. This will result in the introduction of institutional investment which in turn will revolutionise the country’s real estate sector and deliver the quality of life Pakistanis deserve".

UAE-based BMS International Commercial Investment LLC, one of the Royal Group Companies of Sheikh Saeed Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, has shown interest in investing $3 billion in different economic sectors of Pakistan, with a focus on real estate.

Louai Mohammed Ali, chairman of BMS International Commercial Investment, made the commitment to invest in Pakistan’s real estate development, agriculture and fisheries, energy, hospitality and leisure, healthcare and education sectors.

In December 2017, Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris of Ora Developers and Pakistan’s Saif Group announced investing over $2 billion in real estate ventures in Islamabad.

Pakistan’s near-term outlook for economic growth is broadly favourable, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said in a recent statement.

“Real GDP is expected to grow by 5.6 percent in FY 2017/18, supported by improved power supply, investment related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), strong consumption growth, and ongoing recovery in agriculture. Inflation has remained contained,” the IMF said in a statement in March 2018.

Total Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Pakistan surged 68.9 per cent to $4.45 billion in the nine months of FY2018, according to the central bank data.

With a population of almost 208 million people, Pakistan is suffering a shortage of 12 million houses, said a latest report. Karachi, with its behemothian population of 16.6 million, has an annual shortage of 300,000 houses.

Pakistan’s growing economy supported by its investment sector has remained instrumental to the country’s economic growth over the last five years. With a spend of about $5.2 billion on real estate construction backed up by price correction of up to 20 percent and major advancements in the overall industry dynamics, the property market has enabled strong returns among investors compared to other investment avenues.

Likewise, recent studies have indicated a significant move in the local real estate market of Pakistan towards overseas investment, being identified as one of the largest investors in the International Property Market. Pakistan’s property buyers have increasingly secured homes and investment in Europe, GCC, Canada and UK.

Pakistani nationals have invested Dh24.98 billion in Dubai’s real estate through 19,955 transactions in the last four years (2014-2017), according to Dubai Land Department (DLD) making them the third largest non-Arab investor group by nationality.

DOME Exhibitions in collaboration with Pakistan’s leading media house Jang Media Group is back this year to bring the International Real Estate Investment opportunities in the heart of Pakistan with its much-awaited participation at the Dream Home Expo, Pakistan’s leading property and investment exhibition.

“Pakistanis and Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRP) alike have increasingly been investing within Pakistan and in international markets. Such investors have made their mark in countries across the world, acquiring not just investments but also citizenship opportunities through various investment programs,” said Antoine Georges, Managing Director of DOME Exhibitions, International Pavilion organizer of the exhibition.

The World Bank today approved $145 million to expand home owner-ship including women and the poor through access to affordable housing finance in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Housing Finance Project (PHFP) will support Government of Pakistan’s vision and strategy for housing development. The project will extend financial and technical assistance to Pakistan Mortgage Refinancing Company (PMRC), the Planning Commission (PC), and other institutions to increase availability of mortgage financing for households. Nearly a third of country’s population does not own homes and this pressure is rising with growing demand.

“This project will spur the development of housing mortgage market in the country and make housing fi-nance affordable and reachable to many Pakistanis,” said Illango Patchamuthu, World Bank Country Di-rector for Pakistan. “The beneficiaries will include women and low-income groups through improved incen-tives for ecofriendly homes.”

The project adopts an innovative approach including crowding in commercial financing for home ownership and providing greater incentives for women to become home owners. It also incentivizes people to build energy efficient and green homes and adopt climate and disaster-resilient construction designs and materi-als.

“Pakistan’s mortgage finance to Gross Domestic Product ratio of 0.25 percent is extremely low compared to the South Asia average of 3.4 percent,” said Korotoumou Ouattara, World Bank Senior Financial Sector Economist. “There is a significant market gap across all segments of the population. The creation of PMRC marks an important step in achieving the Government of Pakistan’s objective to improve access to housing finance in the country. The project will address the liquidity constraints of lenders, support capital market development, and create an enabling environment for a sound national housing policy.”

PHFP is financed by the International Development Association, the World Bank’s fund for the poor, with a maturity of 25 years, including a grace period of 5 years.

Pakistan's cement and construction industry received foreign direct investment (FDI) of US$766.3m during the 12 months of FY17-18 (July -June), compared to US$501.9m received in corresponding months of last fiscal year. This translates a YoY growth of 53 per cent, says the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The breakdown shows that cement industry attracted FDI of US$59m and the construction industry US$707.30m compared to US$36m and US$465.90m, respectively in July 2016-June 2017.

According to SBP, the cement industry makes a direct contribution of 7.5 per cent to large-scale manufacturing. Moreover, the cement manufacturers will expand their production capacities aggressively, from 49.4Mta to 72.8Mta in the next few years, and the additional capacity would result in the imports of machinery of around US$1.5bn (near PKR178bn) over next few years, says SBP.

In the cement industry, the cost of machinery imports comes around 70 per cent of total cost of the unit/project. This means, the overall estimated cost of expansion would be around PKR254bn (US$2bn).

Rather than investing in the centre of densely populated cities like Karachi, foreign investors are tending to create urban clusters in more peripheral locations

The Pakistani property market has experienced growing interest in recent years, largely due to close international ties between China and Pakistan. In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $62bn project to develop Pakistani infrastructure and energy. With better access to cities across Pakistan, investors are seeing more opportunities to build on the land near these new developments. CPEC projects include the $2.8bn Peshawar-Karachi Motorway, set to open in August 2019, and the East Bay Expressway in Gwadar Port in the south, which is due to be completed later this year. Both will dramatically help to facilitate real estate developments on previously barren land.

Rather than building in megacities like Karachi, investors are taking their money to more peripheral locations in order to create urban clusters on formerly agricultural ground, a move that is known as ‘peri-urbanisation’. “The landscape has visibly changed with the proliferation of housing societies and gated housing enclaves moving along highways towards secondary cities,” according to Anjum Altaf of the Lahore University of Management Sciences. As a consequence, investment in residential property increased from five to seven percent between 2015 and 2016.

Luxury appetitesPakistan’s growing middle class is a major driving force in the rising popularity of these gated housing communities. Luxury development projects, carried out by companies like Bahria Town, DHA City and the Fazaia Housing Scheme, for instance, are some of the most sought after – by those who can afford them.

The rising number of luxury developments, however, is not solving the housing gap currently bedevilling Pakistan. With a population of almost 200 million people, Pakistan is suffering a shortage of 12 million houses. Karachi, with its behemothian population of 16.6 million, has an annual shortage of 300,000 houses. “It’s not about the catering to actual demand or housing shortages. It’s much more about the tastes of richer Pakistanis,” Aisha Ahmad, a research student from the University of Oxford, told World Finance.

Lucrative real estateReal estate has become an attractive option for investors: numerous housing schemes are launched with the promise of 10 to 40 percent returns. Meanwhile, FDI has also been made easier as a result of measures introduced by the government in 2013. These include a new open entry system, which waivers pre-screening and government permission for investment into real estate. Furthermore, investors are no longer limited on the transfer of ownership or entitlement to lease land unless they breach federal orprovincial regulations.

These measures have encouraged foreign investors, and Pakistani expats in particular, to pour money into the housing sector. At present, much of this FDI comes from Egypt. Serving as an example of this is a new $2bn real estate development just outside Islamabad – the first of its kind from Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris. Once finished, the complex will cater to every need of its occupants, providing everything from luxury housing units and schools to hospitals. “That’s what every Pakistani housing scheme coming from FDI looks like. They all tout the same thing: the American dream for Pakistani citizens,” Ahmad explained.

UAE-based BMS International Commercial Investment LLC, one of the Royal Group Companies of Sheikh Saeed Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, has shown interest in investing $3 billion in different economic sectors of Pakistan, with a focus on real estate.

Louai Mohammed Ali, chairman of BMS International Commercial Investment, made the commitment to invest in Pakistan’s real estate development, agriculture and fisheries, energy, hospitality and leisure, healthcare and education sectors.

In December 2017, Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris of Ora Developers and Pakistan’s Saif Group announced investing over $2 billion in real estate ventures in Islamabad.

Pakistan’s near-term outlook for economic growth is broadly favourable, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said in a recent statement.

“Real GDP is expected to grow by 5.6 percent in FY 2017/18, supported by improved power supply, investment related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), strong consumption growth, and ongoing recovery in agriculture. Inflation has remained contained,” the IMF said in a statement in March 2018.

Total Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Pakistan surged 68.9 per cent to $4.45 billion in the nine months of FY2018, according to the central bank data.

With a population of almost 208 million people, Pakistan is suffering a shortage of 12 million houses, said a latest report. Karachi, with its behemothian population of 16.6 million, has an annual shortage of 300,000 houses.

Pakistan’s growing economy supported by its investment sector has remained instrumental to the country’s economic growth over the last five years. With a spend of about $5.2 billion on real estate construction backed up by price correction of up to 20 percent and major advancements in the overall industry dynamics, the property market has enabled strong returns among investors compared to other investment avenues.

Likewise, recent studies have indicated a significant move in the local real estate market of Pakistan towards overseas investment, being identified as one of the largest investors in the International Property Market. Pakistan’s property buyers have increasingly secured homes and investment in Europe, GCC, Canada and UK.

Pakistani nationals have invested Dh24.98 billion in Dubai’s real estate through 19,955 transactions in the last four years (2014-2017), according to Dubai Land Department (DLD) making them the third largest non-Arab investor group by nationality.

DOME Exhibitions in collaboration with Pakistan’s leading media house Jang Media Group is back this year to bring the International Real Estate Investment opportunities in the heart of Pakistan with its much-awaited participation at the Dream Home Expo, Pakistan’s leading property and investment exhibition.

“Pakistanis and Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRP) alike have increasingly been investing within Pakistan and in international markets. Such investors have made their mark in countries across the world, acquiring not just investments but also citizenship opportunities through various investment programs,” said Antoine Georges, Managing Director of DOME Exhibitions, International Pavilion organizer of the exhibition.

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has offered to build 100,000 housing units in Pakistan to help realize Prime Minister Imran Khan’s dream of an ‘ambitious’ housing project, officials said on Friday.“Naguib Sawiris has expressed his will to invest in 100,000 units of affordable housing to help prime minister (Imran Khan) in his vision toward Pakistan,” Tarek Hamdy, Chief Executive officer of Elite Estates — a partnership between Ora Developer and Saif Holding — told Arab News in an exclusive interview. Owned by Sawiris, Ora Developers is already engaged in the construction of a multibillion-dollar housing scheme named ‘Eighteen’ which was launched in 2017 in Islamabad with local partners, Saif Group and Kohistan Builders.Sawiris’ first investment in Pakistan was in Mobilink, a cellular operator.PM Khan in October 2018 had launched ‘Naya’ (New) Pakistan Housing Project in line with his party’s election manifesto, which promised fivr million houses for the poor.Hamdy says they have “set rules or guidelines of the way of doing things” that apply to every real estate projects — whether they are affordable or high value units.“We will use our experience and knowhow to deliver this properly to the people of Pakistan,” he added.Since the announcement of the low-cost housing project for the poor, the scheme has been at the heart of all political and economic discourses with several calling it too ambitious.“This scheme is very ambitious yet very promising for the people of Pakistan. I think all the developers should help in this scheme. You cannot solely rely on the government to build five million houses,” Hamdy said. Recently, the governor of Pakistan’s central bank had said that the massive housing project would require financing of upto Rs 17 trillion.Hamdy believes that the promise of building five million affordable housing units cannot be realized in a short span of time. “I think the plan is right but it has to be in stages, has to be in steps. It could be achievable obviously that is not the project (to be achieved) in one or two years... may take few good years, may be couple of decades to be achieved,” he said.In the Islamabad project the Ora Developers own a 60 percent stake in the project comprising a five-star hotel, 1,068 housing units, 921 residential apartments, business parks, hospitals, schools and other educational facilities and 13 office buildings, and a golf course. The networth of the project is $2 billion.The next cities on the radar for real estate projects are Lahore, Karachi, and Faisalabad. “We intend to do more, we intend to invest more. I think that our portfolio of real estate could come to $10 billion worth of investments in the next five to 10 years including all the projects that we intent to do,” Hamdy said.Pakistan’s housing sector is marred by frauds, scams and unfinished schemes which has been discouraging many potential investors from venturing into the sector. However, Hamdy says he is confident of delivering the promise by 2021.Analysts say that Pakistan’s housing sector offers great opportunities for investment due to increasing demand. “According to estimates, the current real estate market value is around Rs900 billion which is three times that of the GDP,” Saad Hashmey, an analyst at Topline Securities, told Arab News, adding that the PM’s housing project is the need of the hour.Pakistan faces a shortage of nearly 12 million housing units that may require a massive investment of around $180 billion, according to the former Chairman of the Association of Builders and Developers, Arif Yousuf Jeewa.

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I am the Founder and President of PakAlumni Worldwide, a global social network for Pakistanis, South Asians and their friends. I also served as Chairman of the NEDians Convention 2007. In addition to being a South Asia watcher, an investor, business consultant and avid follower of the world financial markets, I have more than 25 years experience in the hi-tech industry. I have been on the faculties of Rutgers University and NED Engineering University and cofounded two high-tech startups, Cautella, Inc. and DynArray Corp and managed multi-million dollar P&Ls. I am a pioneer of the PC and mobile businesses and I have held senior management positions in hardware and software development of Intel’s microprocessor product line from 8086 to Pentium processors. My experience includes senior roles in marketing, engineering and business management. I was recognized as “Person of the Year” by PC Magazine for my contribution to 80386 program. I have an MS degree in Electrical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
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